Decision
by Gumnut
Summary: Virgil made a decision. Marks & Wings AU. Set a few weeks before 'John'.


Title: Decision

Marks & Wings AU

Author: Gumnut

14 Sep 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Virgil made a decision

Word count: 2252

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Timeline: A few weeks before 'John'.

Author's note: Many thanks to  vegetacide for her help on this one and to  i-am-chidorixblossom as well, as they both listened to my whinging as I fought my suddenly crippled muse. But I have now completed something after a week of failing repeatedly to do so. This is very sensory as that is how I try to get my brain working again.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

At night the ocean is a black mass of darkness, the only visual hint of its existence is reliant on star and moonlight catching ripples.

The rest is sound.

The repetitive crash of waves on the shore, water colliding with sand and hissing away as it is consumed between the grains. The intake of the undertow as the beach draws breath, only to expel it again as the next wave throws itself upon the remains of its predecessor.

His bare feet were warm in the sand. The day was not long gone and the air and the earth still held some of the heat of the sun. A breeze barely there floated off the ocean, bringing with it the scent of the sea and a few of the flowers currently in bloom around the island.

Warm and comforting.

With his wings fully spread, barely visible in the darkness, that tiny dance of wind caught him with every flutter. It rifled through his feathers, vibrating each quill to its root, triggering sensory response in a thousand tiny shudders of keratin and flight filament.

His eyes closed and he felt the world breathe.

A single bird, disturbed from its perch squawked indignantly and flew across the bay. In the distance, he could just hear the mutterings of the gull colony on Mateo.

The breeze shifted just slightly and he turned towards it, revelling in its touch. It had notes, music in its tremor, a sigh of exaltation in the cooling of the night.

He hummed in the back of his throat, catching that rhythm, exploring it, becoming it.

A spark of radiance shot across the image in his mind. A flicker of disturbance and the humming stopped.

Despite himself, he smiled.

"Gordon, I know you're there."

There was no answer at first, but then a rain of sparkling light, tinkling laughter.

Virgil opened his eyes and for a moment something leapt out of the water and blocked the light of the rising moon.

Water drops caught starlight.

A breath and the laughter clarified into an aquamarine sun shower as his brother flickered from eagle ray to his human form, feet landing with a splash in the shallows and taking him onto the sand.

Virgil was sprayed with flung off water as his brother shook his hair like a dog.

"Hey, Virg. Whatcha doin'?"

He didn't bother to sigh, letting his wings relax and drop just a little, the tips of feathers brushing the sand. "You know exactly what I was doing. Thank you for the interruption."

"Becoming one with the island again? One with the rock? I know you can be a bit stiff, but that is ridiculous."

"Shut up, Gordon."

"Hey, whatever floats your boat."

Virgil closed his eyes again. Calm, stay calm. The breeze caressed his face.

Gordon pulled up a patch of sand and sat down beside him, just in front of his right wing. He began sifting sand through his fingers.

They sat like that for some time. The darkness enveloped Virgil again and Gordon was little more than quiet company. He was able to drift again, focussed on the world around him and the breeze in his hair and his feathers.

"Scott didn't mean it, you know."

The words were meant to be reassuring, brotherly and kind, but they cut across his calm mindscape and shredded it. His brother's words once again came to the fore, harsh and cruel.

He shivered.

A wave of apology washed over him as his little brother stood abruptly. "Sorry, Virg."

Virgil swallowed, eyes closing, desperately attempting to find the calm again. Scott had said the words in anger. He hadn't meant them. Virgil understood that.

They still hurt.

As if in response to his awkward heartbeat, he felt a swell of calm rise over the trees behind him.

He opened his eyes and tipped his head up to see what he knew he would see.

"Oooh, you've even got the spaceman down from on high."

A ghost drifted on the breeze.

White as an angel, pale as the moonlight sculpting his form, his next youngest brother rode the air currents above the island.

The only word to describe John was elegant. Airborne porcelain, he circled. Midnight starlight cascaded through Virgil's mind. Expressions of sorrow draped in calm, warmed by an amber light, the steady core of his star-loving brother.

Virgil watched mesmerised as his turns became tighter and tighter, closer to the ground. A great arch of white feathers and he landed gently, barely disturbing the sand beneath his bare feet.

He was gleaming in the moonlight from toe to hooded gaze. Ever so pale skin, free to be bare to the elements with the absence of the sun, his only clothing was a cut off pair of jeans so faded they were more white than blue.

Only his hair had colour, flame caught in just the right flash of light.

"Johnny, you should do Halloween. You'd be a hit."

His brother's gaze flicked to Gordon a moment, a small smile curving his lips, before once again turning to focus on Virgil. He didn't fold his wings, their white span ghosted just above the sand.

They were like opposites. Black and white. Darkness and light. Myth gave them definitions that neither embraced, yet the night still ate Virgil while John glowed.

His shoulders shifted under his brother's gaze, his wings drooping even further to brush lines in the sand.

"Scott is wrong." John's musical voice was soft, but heard clearly above the sigh of the water.

"Hah." Gordon's derisive scoff had John glaring at him.

The aquanaut scuffed the sand as he shot to his feet. "Scott is not wrong." Virgil turned to his little brother, heart in his throat. Gordon straightened, his gaze firm. "But he is an idiot."

Virgil's lips thinned and he half-folded his wings, bringing them in closer to his body as he took a step between his brothers, towards the water.

"Scott is angry."

"That does not excuse him." John's voice was firm. He flapped his wings once before folding them neatly behind him and letting them go. White feathers dissolved into his pale silver mark and it gleamed in the moonlight. "He had no right to say that to you."

Virgil shrugged and his feathers rustled and shifted. There were words, but he didn't feel like speaking them. "It was his opinion. He has a right to it."

"You've got to be kidding me. You don't believe that crap, do you? C'mon, Virg, you know you're better than that."

"Am I?" And that was the crux of the matter. He was afraid. Absolutely terrified. The fear echoed in his mind and was immediately picked up by his brothers.

Gordon gasped. "What the hell, Virg?"

He could feel John's calm gaze brush his cheek. He closed his eyes.

His wings folded around him in automatic reflex. Defensive.

"Virgil."

He ignored John and took another step towards the water. The worst of it had been the expression on Kay's face. There was no doubt of her opinion. She agreed with Scott and was obviously a large part of his arsenal.

He closed his eyes.

Calm.

He sought calm.

That was why he was out here. To ground. To regain control.

John and Gordon were worried. He could feel it, but there was nothing he could do to assuage it.

He let himself go a moment, mind reaching out for the sounds of the sea, the breeze, the grains of sand beneath his feet, the world that supported his life.

There lay calm. There lay focus.

He heard the soft footsteps of his brothers, one on either side of him. Starlight and sun glitter.

"Virgil, you are one of the bravest men I know. I have seen you run into burning buildings to save children. I have seen you, torn and bleeding, still trying to carry the injured. I have seen you absolutely terrified, but still jumping into a situation because you know you can help. You have courage that most people can only try for and fail. You are a hero. You always have been." Sunlight danced across his mind. "Even when you were only saving me from the dark in my bedroom at night."

The emotion Gordon threw at him was true and strong and he couldn't help but bask in his brother's admiration and confidence.

"Thank you." His voice was little more than a whisper, yet so heartfelt. "But we can't do what Scott is asking us to do."

The sunlight in his mind slipped into shadows. "But he is right, Virgil. We can't stand by and let the Hood keep hurting people just like us. We have the capability, we should stop him."

"The GDF-"

"The GDF are useless!" The sunlight sparked into fire. Anger and hurt. "We have given them every opportunity. Hell, they actually captured him and still he got away. Multiple times. How long is it before he hurts us again? He wants our technology and he is going to keep trying. We have to stop him. No one else will."

"It's crossing the line."

"What line? We will still be in the right. The bastard killed Dad. He has hurt us so many times. We have to stop him from hurting us again. Because he will."

"It is not what we do." But it was a small voice against his brother's wave of determination.

"No. It isn't. It is what we have to do."

Virgil closed his eyes again. On his left, John was still calm yet worried, his opinion hidden, but his support ever there for the both of them.

"John?" The question was obvious.

His brother shifted where he stood. Without his feathers he appeared more of a waif, as if part of him was missing. "I have to agree with Virgil. We are a rescue organisation, not a military force."

"John!"

"No, Gordon. This is more than right and wrong, it is political. If we start a war, we'll be branded a terrorist organisation and the GDF will take us down."

"They can try." And yes, there was fire in both Gordon's eyes and his soul.

"Gordon." John sent a wave of mild exasperation across their connection. "Virgil's right. There is a line. And that line is there for a reason."

"So you are both saying we sit here until that bastard hurts us again." Gordon's glare was caustic. "What do you think he will take next time? A 'bird? One of us? What about Tin, Virgil? What if he takes it into his head to steal back his niece? Are you going to sit back and let him do that? Might as well pluck the wings from your back. He is going to hurt us again. It is just a matter of when and how."

Virgil stared at his brother and felt true fear. He bit his lip as the emotion welled up inside and wrapped around his heart.

Scott was right. He was scared.

No, he was damn well terrified.

But there was a line. He would defend. Oh god, would he defend. But to attack…to instigate a fight. It felt so wrong.

Yes, Scott was right.

He was chicken-assed scared.

The calm was gone. His heart was once again thudding in his chest, Scott's accusation bouncing around in his mind. He folded his wings behind him and let them go. The breeze brushed cool against his mark as his feathers faded.

A hand landed on his shoulder, fingers cool. "Virgil, calm down."

If he had been more lighthearted he would have rolled his eyes. That was exactly what he had been out here trying to do.

But brothers.

Loving brothers.

Instead he just closed his eyes again and attempted to slow his heartbeat. Calm. He was the calm brother. The level-headed one.

Mostly through strength of will and concern at what would happen if he wasn't.

A swallow and he cleared his throat. "I can't cross the line, Gordon. I'm sorry."

His brother stared at him as if Virgil had reached out and slapped his face. "Well, that's just great. You know Scott won't move without your agreement. That's the way it works. Mom and Pop make the decisions on this here chunk of rock, but Mom always has the deciding vote."

"Gordon!" John was frowning.

"It's true! Scott listens to Virgil far more than he listens to any of us. The decision has been made and Scott doesn't even know it. We're going to sit on our asses and do nothing like we always do, and that bastard is going to hurt us again." Gordon glared up at his second eldest brother. "You remember this, Virgil. Think of this conversation and this decision of yours next time the Hood hurts us. A good part of it will be on your head."

John took a step towards his younger brother. "Gordon! What the hell?!"

But the aquanaut had turned his back on them. A run, jump and he transformed midair, diving into the waves and disappearing without another word.

Virgil forced a calm. He had to stick to what he believed in. What Dad believed in. What Mom believed in. They had to do what was right.

"Gordon is just angry." John's voice was quiet in its concern, his eyes catching the light of the moon.

"I know."

"You're doing the right thing."

"I know."

He just wished the right thing didn't feel so wrong.

-o-o-o-


End file.
